Dr. James Woody, Psy.D.
About Dr. Woody
I am a licensed clinical psychologist who provides psychotherapy for individual adults and marital and pre-marital therapy for couples. I obtained my doctorate in clinical psychology from Rosemead School of Psychology in La Mirada, CA, and my Certificate in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy from The New Center for Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles, CA. I have been in clinical practice since 2008 and served as supervising and clinical faculty at Rosemead School of Psychology for 15 years. I am a member of The New Center for Psychoanalysis and the American Psychoanalytic Association, where I serve on the National Psychotherapist Committee. I am a generalist practitioner trained to treat a wide range of psychological disorders. I have particular interests in anxiety, depression, grief, compulsive behavior, fears/phobias, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), panic disorders, social anxiety, trauma, college mental health, and couples counseling. I also like to help people understand the deep meaning of their history of relationships and the associated emotions that impact their religious experience and practice.
Credentials:
- Texas Licensed Psychologist: #39806
- California Licensed Psychologist: #24684
- PSYPACT Mobility Number: 14009
- Psy.D., Clinical Psychology, Rosemead School of Psychology, 2008
- Certificate in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, The New Center for Psychoanalysis, 2015
How I Practice Psychotherapy
I believe that emotional healing and growth occur when we discover the truth of who we are in the context of a safe therapeutic relationship. I value a collaborative approach that encourages the non-judgmental curiosity needed to understand in deep ways how your mind and emotions work. We then use this information to tailor interventions unique to your situation. In general, I work from a psychoanalytic, depth-oriented perspective that emphasizes the importance of our relational histories and how these experiences have shaped the ways we think about and experience ourselves, others, and the world. While these patterned ways of thinking and feeling can be helpful, they can also result in suffering. I work to help you enhance the use of what is helpful and to transform what is painful so that you can have more deeply satisfying relationships and live with more freedom and autonomy.
While I use psychodynamic theory to help us understand how your mind and emotions work, I also employ interventions using the following modalities: behavioral principles, mindfulness-based interventions, polyvagal-informed interventions, and existential thought. I use behavioral principles to help clients take action and to identify aspects of the environment that promote or inhibit both adaptive (helpful) and maladaptive (unhelpful) behaviors. Mindfulness-based interventions are used to enhance the ability to observe the self with curiosity and acceptance, to encourage self-compassion, to more accurately and readily identify how we respond to our environment, to develop more adaptive interaction with ourselves and our world, and to employ stress-reducing strategies. Polyvagal-informed therapy helps clients to identify how the autonomic nervous system “remembers” our lived experience and informs us of safety or danger in the environment. This approach helps clients learn to manage their body’s response to stress in various forms. Finally, I use existential principles in the treatment of anxiety in all its forms. Existential forms of therapy help clients face life with courage, recognizing that they can survive what may come.